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Thursday, May 3, 2012

Devils right wing Ilya Kovalchuk said he is “ready to go” in Game 3 against the Flyers tonight after missing Game 2 on Tuesday night with a lower-back injury.

“I feel good and I’m ready to go,” Kovalchuk said.

Kovalchuk said it will be up to head coach Pete DeBoer, however, if he does play.

DeBoer said it will be a “game-time decision,” but made it sound like Kovalchuk will make the call - which would seem to indicate that Kovalchuk will play.

“I think with players, these guys know their bodies better than doctors, coaches, anybody else,” DeBoer said. “So, it’s not me seeing something. It’s him knowing what we need out of him and whether he feels his body is capable of giving us that. That’s where we’re at. Players have to make those decisions.”

Sitting out tonight would give Kovalchuk another three days off before Game 4 on Sunday, but he doesn’t see any need to wait.

“Why would you sit there and rest if you feel better and you’re ready to go?” Kovalchuk asked. “Now, Pete, he will decide what he wants to see in the lineup tonight.”

Although Kovalchuk skated on the fourth line during today's morning skate, DeBoer indicated that if Kovalchuk does play, it won't be in a limited role.

“For me, if he’s healthy to go, he’s healthy to go,” DeBoer said. “It’s not healthy with an asterisk like we’re not going to use you or we’re going to limit you. So, for me, if he’s in, it will be full in.”

“I’ll play anywhere,” Kovalchuk said. “Wherever it takes to get back in the lineup, I’ll do that.”

DeBoer said it would also be a game-time decision on who would come out of the lineup if Kovalchuk plays. Peter Harrold looked like the extra defenseman during today’s morning skate. DeBoer would only say that sitting Harrold was one of the options they are discussing.

Kovalchuk wouldn’t reveal the exact nature of his injury, saying only that it was “lower-body."

“There’s a lot of parts in the lower body,” Kovalchuk said. “You know, especially in the playoffs, you don’t want to say exactly what you’ve got because the other team can take advantage of it, but, I’m 100 percent back now and now I’m going to feel only better.”

Kovalchuk had been playing with the injury since early in the Devils' first-round series against Florida.

“It happened in the first couple of games against Florida,” Kovalchuk said. “Then, I felt a little better. Then, it’s getting worse and worse, so then we just decided to shut it down for a couple of days and make sure we take care of it and go forward.”

Kovalchuk had repeatedly denied that he was playing with an injury.

“I think everybody saw I couldn’t skate the way I used to,” he said. “You guys all were talking about it. I just was trying to go through that. I thought we’ve got a couple days between the series and stuff, so it was going to help, but it didn’t.”

The injury finally reached the point that it was better for him to sit out after he struggled in the Devils' 4-3 overtime loss in Game 1 Sunday in Philadelphia. Kovalchuk's mobility and skating speed appeared limited as the Florida series progressed and his back looked particularly stiff in Game 1 against the Flyers.

“You know when something bothers you, you can’t skate the way you (can normally) and you get frustrated because you know the coach wants to see from you the same thing that you do all year long," Kovalchuk said. "And when you’re not capable to do that you’ve got to go and tell them it’s better to put some healthy body there and they did a great job last game.”

When asked if the injury is something he can manage through the playoffs, but might have to take care of after the season, Kovalchuk replied, “Hopefully not.”

“We’ll see,” he said. “You never know. Hockey is a contact sport and injuries can happen anywhere with anybody. So, you just have to play and prepare yourself best as you can and make sure you warm up good and do all the right things before the game.”

Kovalchuk said the decision to sit out Game 2 was made by "doctors, trainers, coaches, general manager, everybody all together."

Kovalchuk said it was “tough” to sit out Game 2, but knows it was the right thing to do.

“Especially in the playoffs, you want to play,” he said. “But when something bothers you it’s better to sit a couple days and regroup and get the doctors to do their thing and feel better and play better.

Kovalchuk said the team doctors and trainers, did “a little magic.”

“We’ve got great trainers and good doctors here, so they did a great job,” he said. “So, I think it was the right thing to do, sit a couple of days and I got four days rest and I did the stuff I was supposed to do and I feel much better now.”

Today's morning skate was the first time he was on the ice since Game 1 on Sunday.

When asked if he is 100 percent, Kovalchuk replied, “We’ll see tonight. The game is going to show. I’m ready to go and nothing bothers me. I want to be back to how I was playing all season long.”

Kovalchuk remained in New Jersey when the team bussed back down to Philadelphia Monday afternoon and watched Game 2 on television Tuesday night.

“I was so nervous, but the way the guys played I knew they were going to win,” Kovalchuk said. “So, it was an unbelievable team effort and they didn’t give them many chances, so, hopefully, tonight we’ll play the same way.”

The series is tied 1-1 now and the Devils have a chance to take control of the series with the next two games coming at Prudential Center.

“I think we’re in good shape and tonight is definitely a big game in front of our home crowd,” Kovalchuk said. “I think it will be a loud building and we know what to do to beat those guys. We’ve got to be in control of our emotions and play the way we played last game.”

***More from Kovalchuk:

On why he wouldn’t discuss how he was injured:

“Why? It’s all history now and I don’t want to talk about it. I want to focus on the game. That’s the bottom line. I thank the doctors and the trainers. They did a good job to get me back to where I was and, hopefully, I’ll feel better and better every day.”

On how the team pulled together without him Tuesday:“I think it was an unbelievable game,. All the guys were giving 110 percent. It was a total team effort. Marty was outstanding again. Our forecheck was great. Special teams was really good. I think the guys were controlling their emotions really well, didn’t get in those battles after the whistle. That’s very important against this team.”

On whether he felt any twinges in the morning skate today:“No, I felt really good.”

About

TOM GULITTI has covered the New Jersey Devils for The Record since 2002. Prior to that, he covered the New York Rangers for four years. Gulitti joined The Record in 1998 after six years at The North Jersey Herald News. He graduated from Binghamton University in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts in Rhetoric-Literature.